Sustainable Design

The actual sustainability of a product is also in the hands of the designer. Right from the product’s first conceptual design, the selection of materials to be used and the production processes these will need are decisive. These two dimensions determine whether you can have the finished product repaired if a part breaks, and whether you can recycle it in the end.

We at VAUDE are currently revising our design guidelines for all major product groups to embed sustainability aspects in product design and to develop a product design style that’s emblematic for the VAUDE brand. The guidelines are based on the fundamental idea of the Higg Index, an instrument for the apparel and footwear industry for assessing the sustainability of products. The key messages are:

• Sustainability starts with the first product sketch. The product must be planned from the outset so that you can later repair and / or recycle it. We need to deal with potential conflicts that arise when the demands placed on a product limit its ability to be repaired.
• In order to manufacture products that use fewer resources, you first need to reduce the complexity of the product. The materials used should be environmentally and socially responsible.
• As little "design" as needed: when you cannot take away anything else from the product, you have found its essence – and it is always economical, always sustainable, always high quality; always marketable, always aesthetic.

The VAUDE Design guidelines provide designers with a modular system of possibilities. It shouldn’t be taken as a rigid regulative document, but rather as a guide that sets out the relationship between mountain, people and our brand to help spark inspiration for one’s own creativity.
More about it at Green Shape.